1. Field of the Invention
Applicant's invention relates identification tags, and particularly to both visual and electronically readable identification tags used to identify and manage livestock.
2. Background Information
The United States Beef Industry annually markets tens of millions of animals to supply both domestic and foreign demand for safe, high quality beef. These animals are fed in thousands of confinement feeding operations (“feed lots”) scattered across the country. While many of these operations are small (less than 4000 head) a vast majority (over 75%) of cattle sold pass through these commercial operations.
These larger facilities are characterized by multiple owners of the cattle throughout the feed lot(s), which mixture creates a need for identification of cattle, or groups of cattle, in a quick and easily distinguished manner. First the plastic (visual) ear-tag industry arose to meet such needs, and this was followed by electronically readable tags as computer, database management and integration, and RFID technologies developed and became accessible, reliable and cost effective to the point for allowing for the rapid, automated reading of uniquely identifiable tags as are associated with specific animals.
Historically, groups of animals had been rather simply distinguished either by color-coding with ear-tags or more commonly using pen or lot numbers printed on visual ear-tags.
Safety initiatives relating, in part, to a need for rapid location and quarantining of suspected diseased cattle, as well as generally more focused management within the Beef Industry have led to the practice of individually identifying animals, even within ownership groupings. Whether through use of visual or RFID tags, each animal transported in commerce is typically, uniquely identified by its tag—a tag that cannot, by law and regulation, be re-used. The need for individual animal identification also bolstered the use of RFID tags as alleviating the labor-intensive and potentially error-prone practice of visually identifying each and every uniquely labeled animal.
To prevent mistaken identification, thwarting of safety measures that require specific animal identification, and even fraud, RFID tags are strictly single-use when used for transporting animals in commerce.
Feed lot operations, however, do not require strict, single-use of tags, as identification and tracking of animals in that context is usually, merely local management issue. In the feed lot context, visual tags are adequate (and preferred) for many purposes, but RFID tags (if somehow made cost-effective) might also provide similar labor-savings, and accuracy enhancing benefits.
At present, the would-be highly beneficial use of both visual and RFID tags in feed lot operations is disincentivized, if not cost-prohibitive in some cases, in part, because there is no present, practical avenue for re-using RFID tags, especially in conjunction with using visual tags.
Being able to conveniently and cost-effectively use both visual ear tags and RFID tags in a feed lot context is a highly desirable objective for the livestock industry.